Silent and Stealthy
by DyanaRoseJill
Summary: A rainy day activity. Giovanni helps his wife combat cabin fever in their sons. Written for a writing prompt challenge. Prompt: Treasure Map


It had been raining for the better part of a week now. It was as if the whole world was weeping.  
Maria Auditore felt like crying herself, with frustration. She had begun to hate weather like this.

Her husband, on the other hand, did not mind it so much. Very few people were willing to venture out in this weather, which made his evening job considerably easier.

He returned home from the bank, handing his wet cape to Annetta somewhat apologetically. He was immediately pounced on by his wife with the declaration that "something needed to be done!"

Somewhat alarmed by his usually reasonable wife's semi-hysterical state, Giovanni quickly ushered her into the parlor, bidding her sit down, before asking what is wrong.

"It's raining!"

"I'm sorry, mi amore, but even an assassin cannot do anything about the weather," he told her seriously, with a sparkle in his eye.

"That is true, but a father can do something to entertain his two boys."

"Oh," he chuckled, "I see."

"I am at my wits end," Maria said, "This afternoon they almost destroyed my favorite vase."

"What happened?" he asked.

She shook her head slightly. "Ball. Dining room. Do I need to say anything else?"

Giovanni shook his head. "No, I understand." He lightly rubbed his wife's shoulder. "I will see what I can do."

After dinner the next day, Giovanni summoned his two sons to his study. He held back a laugh at the nervous look on their faces. But rather than scolding them, he told them that he had something very important to tell them.

"I was looking for something in the bookshelf up there," he indicated a shelf filled with boring looking books, "And I found this." He produced a yellowed sheet of paper.

"What is it papa?" Federico asked.

Giovanni unfolded it for the boys to see. Written on the first page, in elegant (but legible) script, was a letter from a man named Ciango and addressed to whoever found the letter. He identified himself as a workman who had worked on this very palazzo. It seemed that he had acquired a treasure, and had hidden it during the construction of the home. Misfortune had struck him after that, and he was unable to retrieve it. He had written this letter so that someone in the future would be able to lay claim to the treasure that he would never be able to use. He had hidden his treasure well, so that only someone worthy would find it. There were six keys hidden throughout the palazzo. All of them were required to open the treasure.

Federico read the letter out loud to his brother and father, only stumbling over one or two words.

"There's a treasure in this house!" Ezio exclaimed gleefully.

"It seems so," Giovanni replied.

"And you didn't know about this, Papa?" Federico asked.

He shook his head. "I didn't know any of the people who built this house."

"Maybe… we could find it?" Ezio looked to his brother, eyes wide.

"Can we, papa?" Federico asked.

"You can try," Giovanni agreed, "But, you probably should keep it a secret. That means you'll have to be very quiet. All treasure hunters are silent. Stealthy."

Both boys nodded eagerly. Federico carefully unfolded the old map and studied it. They could clearly tell that it was a map of their house, with cryptic symbols marked in various rooms.

"That one is our room!" Ezio pointed on the map.

"Let's go!" Federico shouted.

"Shh," Giovanni reminded them, "Silent. Stealthy. Remember?"

His elder son covered his mouth and nodded. "Si, papa."

Clutching the map, the two boys not-quite-ran up the stairs to their bedroom, passing a rather bemused Annetta. The maid blinked after them, then shrugged and continued on her way.

Ezio shut the door and turned to his brother. "What's it say?"

"It's marked with an A," he said, squinting at the map, "and then a P."

The two boys looked at each other. "AP?" Ezio repeated, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Non lo so," Federico shrugged.

For lack of any better ideas, the boys started to search their room, hunting through everything. Federico crawled under the bed, feeling around on the ground for any secret panels. Ezio threw open the doors of the wardrobe and crawled inside, feeling around on the walls.

"Find anything?" his brother asked.

Ezio sat down on the floor of the wardrobe. "Niente."

"There has to be something here," Federico said with a nod, returning to his search.

Ezio watched his elder brother for a few minutes, absently running his fingers around the ground when suddenly, his fingers caught on something. He blinked and looked down, then rose to his feet, kneeling down outside of the wardrobe. He examined the place where the wall met the bottom.

"What are you looking at?"

"There's… a crack…" he tugged on it carefully. The bottom of the wardrobe lifted up slightly, and he looked at his brother. For a moment, the two stared at each other, and then Federico edged his way in, and the two boys pulled.

It wasn't a false bottom, not really, just a thin plank of wood; and under it, an ancient looking key! Federico covered his mouth before he let out a shout. Silent. Stealthy.

*~*~*~*  
Their next quest took them to the dining room. The smudged mark on the map read "ST" marked the location of another key. The two looked through the cupboards with no luck. Federico was just about to suggest that they climb on one of the chairs to look at the upper shelves when the sound of footsteps made them both freeze.

Federico pointed to the dining room table, and the two of them darted under it, hidden by the long white table cloth. Ezio laid his head down on the ground, peering out through the gap between the cloth and the floor. He recognized his mother's shoes as she walked into the room. Suddenly his older brother tapped him on the shoulder. He glanced up to see Federico pointing to the center of the underside of the table. There, secured with old string, was another ancient key!

The two boys waited until Maria had exited the room before Federico freed the key from its binding.

"That's two…" Ezio whispered.

"Only four more," Federico grinned.

"Messere?" Annetta stuck her head into Giovanni's office, "Do you know why the boys are hiding under the dining room table?"

"Treasure hunt," Giovanni replied simply.

She raised a brow.

"It seems that there is a treasure hidden in the palazzo," Giovanni replied with a wink, "But they need to find all the keys before they can open the treasure." He smiled at her expression, "The keys, of course, are hidden all over the house."

"Is that so?" She folded her arms, "_All_ over the house?"

"Si," he replied, "Although I am sure that the mapmaker was polite enough not to hide anything in your room."

The word spread throughout the servants quickly. Most of them were more than willing to turn a blind eye to the treasure hunters. For their part, Ezio and Federico were convinced that they were succeeding in being Stealthy and Silent. It took them all day to find all the keys. One in the parlor, one in the storeroom, one in the foyer, and one in the wine cellar.

"This symbol is different," Federico pointed on the map, "that must be the treasure!"

"In the attic!" Ezio said gleefully, "Let's go!"

The night was clear, and Giovanni and Maria were sitting outside in the courtyard. Things were still a bit damp, but the rain was finally finished.

"I don't know how you did it," she said to her husband, who was lying on the grass with his head in her lap, "But you did it."

"Well," he smiled up at her, "There's nothing like trying to find something to demand your full attention."

"Yes, I saw," she smiled, "How long did that take you?"

"Counting the time in the market place?" he asked, "About four hours."

"It was worth every minute," she declared, "And I think that the boys enjoyed exploring the house without destroying it."

"That was the idea," Giovanni closed his eyes as his wife ran her hand through his hair, smoothing it back.

"I think they liked the treasure too," Maria said with a smile, "But you'll spoil them with all that."

He opened his eyes, "How am I spoiling them? It's just their luck that the mysterious "Ciango" seemed to have the same ideas about treasure that they do."

Maria smiled and continued to stroke his hair back. The new bracelet on her wrist reflected the moonlight. Amidst their treasures of toys, shells and stones, the boys had found the perfect present for their mother. "Ciango has excellent taste."


End file.
